Method and means for grinding card flats



Jan. 11, 1966 c. L. STILL ETAL METHOD AND MEANS FOR GRINDING CARD FLATS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 20, 1965 INVENTORS co/vwAr 4. STILL a BY snwnma s. Bww

9W an-r aways Jan. 11, 1966 c. L. snu. ETAL 3,228,149

METHOD AND MEANS FOR GRINDING CARD FLATS Filed Aug. 20, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet z A'DWARD 5. BYAD rs I Jan. 11, 1966 c. L. STILL ETAL 3,228,149

METHOD AND MEANS FOR GRINDING CARD FLATS Filed Aug. 20, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS (O/VWA) (MST/u. a BY {IBM/4R0 5. 5mm

United States Patent 3,228,149 METHGD AND MEANS FOR GRINDENG CARD FLATS Conway L. Stiil and Edward E. Byrd, Greenwood, .C.,

assignors to Greenwood Mills, Greenwood, 55.0, a corporation of South Carolina Filed Aug. 29, 1963, Ser. No. 3tl3,277 W 7 Claims. (Cl. S1243) This invention relates to the grinding of chain mounted card flats during mill operation, and more particularly to a method and means for accomplishing such grinding in a manner that maintains the flats true and provides for grinding them evenly from end to end.

In so-called revolving flat cards the carding takes place between the clothed face of a rather large cylinder and the clothing of relatively narrow flats that are coextensive in length with the cylinder and are arranged in an endless chain-connected series with an active reach guided over a portion of the cylinder face and a return reach trained above the cylinder so that the endless series of flats may revolve to present a progressively changing group of flats at the active reach.

It has long been conventional practice to provide a grinding stand at a position along the return each of the flat series so that the flats may be ground periodically, as they become dull, with grinding apparatus of the type disclosed by US. Patent No. 620,353, issued February 28, 1899. Such apparatus characteristically incorporates a cradle structure having a compound slide assembly at each end that includes a base component bearin a downwardly directed face cam disposed for riding end portions of the flats that position them during carding action, and an adjustable slide component carried by the base component for supporting a grinding roll at a selected position in relation to the face cam. This characteristic arrangement has the purpose of applying the grinding roll to the flats in correspondence with the position they assume for carding action, and this purpose requires that the flats be made to follow the slide assembly face cams during grinding.

The conventional means heretofore employed for causing the flats to follow these cams has been inboard anvil members disposed so that the flats must rise over them in passing beneath the face cams. The result of this inboard anvil arrangement, however, has been to impose a bending load on the flats tending to flex their central portion upwardly during grinding so that the grinding roll grinds deeper at this central portion than towards each end leaving the flat hollow ground from end to end when the grinding is finished and the bending load is removed. This hollow ground result, as well as its adverse eflect on the evenness of the carding action, has been recognized and there have been attempts to eliminate it (e.g., US. Patent No. 2,132,240), but no practical solution has heretofore been provided and it has been generally concluded that the resulting adverse eifect must be tolerated.

It has always been apparent that the inboard anvil members imposed an undesirable bending load on the flats that could be avoided by supporting the flats directly beneath the slide assembly face cams during grinding, but the obstacle to such rearrangement of the supporting means has been the necessity for causing the supported flats to follow the face cams. The inboard anvil members provide arcuate tracks over which aligned portions of a back face rib of the flat structure ride in line contact relation so that the supported flat is free to rock and thereby allow its positioning end portions to assume and maintain the necessary following relation with the face cams. If the anvil members were shifted outwardly beneath the flat end portions such rocking adjustment in re lation to the face cams could not be obtained because 3228149 Patented Jan. 11, 1966 the back face of these end portions must be specially formed concavely for pulley mounting of the chain-connected flats, so as to prohibit a satisfactory relation with outwardly shifted anvil members.

The present invention deals with this problem by eliminating the anvil members and arranging instead to support the flats directly beneath their ridden end portions in a manner that causes the support to move with each flat in line contact relation as it is ground, and thereby require the flat end portions to assume the necessary following relation with the face cams. For supporting the flat end portions in this manner according to the present invention, a sprocket means is provided that presents a peripheral lug to carry each flat end portion as it passes beneath the face cam that rides it during grinding, while each such peripheral lug is caused to move with the fiat end portion it carries through arrangement of the sprocket means otherwise to engage the chain mounting of the flats so as to be operated by the traveling motion of the flat series, as described in further detail below in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic elevation of a revolving flat card indicating the position at which the flat grinding is done;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective View illustrating the general operating disposition of flat grinding apparatus arranged according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary right end elevation of the grinding apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a central section detail through the flat supporting sprocket means and the mounting therefor taken substantially along the line 44 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a left side elevation of the sprocket member shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detail illustrating a portion of the FIG. 3 structure on an enlarged scale.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the general course of the chain mounted flat series in a revolving flat card is indicated in FIG. 1 at It as related to the card cylinder ll, which has fiber delivered thereto for carding by a liclterin at 12 and removed therefrom after carding by a doffer roll at 13 from which the carded fiber is taken in sliver form to a coiler 14.

As seen in FIG. 1, the flat series 10 has an active reach thereof disposed in working relation over a substantial surface portion of the card cylinder 11, and an oppositely traveling return reach trained above its active reach. Each flat 15 of the series 10 has end portions 15 (see PEG. 2) that extend beyond the chain mounting by which the flats are connected (as indicated at 16 in FIG. 2), and that are specially formed at the face thereof on the clothed side of the flat for riding guide bends at the card arch to position the flats 15 in proper Working relation with the card cylinder ll along the active reach of the chain connected fiat series 10, while the opposite or back face of these end portions 15 is also specially formed to provide for training the return reach of the flat series 10 over pulley discs as illustrated in FIG. 2 at 17.

Towards the end of the pulley trained return reach, it is conventional to arrange a pair of horn brackets 18 on mounting stands 1h at each side of the flat series 10 to support grinding apparatus in relation to the flats l5 (compare FIGS. 1 and 2). Normally, the horn brackets 18 are formed with the previously mentioned inboard anvil members projecting inwardly therefrom for supporting the flats 15 during grinding, but, as also mentioned previously, such anvil members are eliminated according to the present invention and replaced by sprocket means, as represented generally at 20 in FIG. 1, to support the flats 15 directly beneath their end portions 15' for grinding to better advantage.

FIG. 2 illustrates the overall arrangement and operating disposition of grinding apparatus in the manner of the present invention, while FIG. 3 indicates in detail the flat supporting action of the sprocket means 20, and FIGS. 4 and 5 show the structural disposition and form of the sprocket means.

Comparing FIGS. 2 and 3, the grinding apparatus is seen to comprise a cradle structure formed by horizontally extending tie rods '21 that connect base components 22 of compound slide assemblies having adjustable slide components 23 on which .a grinding roll 24 is carried at each end for rotation through a pulley fitting 24. The adjustable component 23 of each slide assembly is bolted at 25 on the related base component 22 through an elongated slot that allows selective setting of the position at which the grinding roll 24 is carried in relation to downwardly directed face cams or formers 26 provided at the foot of each base component 22 for riding the flat end portions 15 to determine the degree or depth of grinding contact in accordance with the selective setting of the grinding roll 24 by the cradle structure slide assemblies.

Adjustment of the slide components 23 for selective setting of the grinding roll 24 has heretofore been provided for through adjusting screws extending independently from each base component 22 to a manipulating head portion at which the related slide component 23 was engaged for positioning as illustrated and described in the previously noted prior Patent No. 620,353. The cradle structure employed according to the present invention incorporates this same adjusting arrangement basically, but preferably also provides for connecting the adjusting screws so that their adjustment is made synchronous to maintain the setting of the grinding roll 24 uniform from end to end as a matter of course.

When an independentadjustment must be made at each end, the task of setting the grinding roll 24 is not only more burdensome but there is a continual opportunity for setting the ends unequally, through lack of proper care or otherwise, so that the flats 15 are ground low towards one end and their working relation with the card cylinder 11 is thereby impaired objectionably. Connection of the adjusting screws to obviate this result is effected through a cross shaft 27 (see FIG. 2) that carries bevel gears, as at 28, for turning both adjusting screws 29 from a common manipulating knob 36 (compare FIGS. 2 and 3). Suitable housings 31 are mounted on each slide component 23 to carry the cross shaft 27 and enclose the bevel gear connections to the adjusting screws 29, and a calibrated dial 32 is mounted on the cross shaft 27 at the housing 31 adjacent the manipulating knob 36 for indicating theextent of each grinding roll adjustment as it is made.

The previously mentioned horn brackets 18 that are provided to support the grinding apparatus have an inclined disposition, as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, and present a straight side edge guide face 33 (see FIG. 3) against which the cradle structure slide components 23 rest with a downward bias from the weight of the grinding apparatus, which otherwise bears fully at the ridden end portions 15' of .the flats 15 through the face cams 2 6 that are arranged at the foot of each slide assembly base component 22. Each base component 22 is additionally fitted in the usual manner with a lateral pin element 34 that rides at the operative position of the grinding apparatus Within a lower clearance notch 35 in the horn bracket guide face 33, while being available for shifting to an upper idle position notch 36 at which the grinding apparatus may be held clear of the flats 15.

The face cams or formers 26 through which the grind,- ing apparatus rides the flat end portions 15 serve the purpose of positioning the flats 15 properly as they are ground. Such positioning is necessary because of the previously mentioned special form of the flat end portions 15' for riding the guide bends at the card arch, and which is characterized by a greater thickness at the trailing edges of these end portions 15' so that the working face of the fiat clothing is made to assume a correct working angle with the card cylinder clothing. The face \cams 26 accordingly have a stepped form that effects a compensating lowering of the thinner leading edge of each end portion 15' as the flat 15 passes beneath the grinding roll 24 so that the flat clothing is ground straight, and it is therefore particularly important that the end portions 15' be made to follow the face cams 26 during grinding, as the supporting sprocket means 20 does with exceptional simplicity and effectiveness according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3 and on an enlarged scale in FIG. 6, the sprocket means 20 is formed with peripheral lugs 37 for supporting the flats 15 at the back side of the end portions 15. These peripheral lugs 37 might take a variety of suitable forms but it has been found convenient and eifective to shape them on the sprocket means 26 along an enlarged circumference in an extent approximating half the width of the flats 15. With such a shape the lugs 37 present their leading ends for supporting contact beneath the flat end portions 15' as the latter move beneath the face cams or formers 26 to a roach the grinding roll 24. As this movement continues the circular path of the lugs 37 causes them to rise so that the flat end portions 15' are lifted against the formers 26 and the entire weight of the grinding apparatus is borne by the respective sprocket means 26} through the active lugs 37 thereof; the cradle structure slide components 23 shifting upwardly at this time on the horn bracket guide faces 33 in adjusting response to the lifting action of the lugs 37.

When the leading edges of the flat end portions 15 reach the stepped configuration of the formers 26 for lowering thereat to position the flats 15 properly in preparation for grinding, the necessary rocking of the flats 15 for such positioning is allowed readily by reason of a line contact relation beneath the flat end portions 15 that, in practical effect, is maintained continuously by the supporting lugs 37 as they move with the end portions 15'. That is, upon initial contact it is the leading end edges of the active lugs 37 that bear against the back faces of the flat end portion 15' to lift them upwardly against the formers 26 and assume the support of the grinding apparatus, and these leading end edges continue to move with the end portions 15 in supporting relation as the stepped configuration of the formers 26 is reached to position the flats 15 for grinding. As movement of the flats 15 continues during grinding, the lugs 37 pass through a dead center position at which both the leading and trailing end edges may both make supporting contact momentarily (depending on the curvature of the outer lug edges in relation to the concavity of the end portion 15' for pulley riding), but in any case the support is transferred immediately to the trailing end edges so that it is essentially a line contact relation that is maintained continuously by the lugs 37 in supporting the fiat end portions 15' throughout the grinding; and this line contact relation has the effect of requiring the end portions 15' to follow the formers 26 as the flats 15 are ground.

The lugs 37 are caused to move with the flat end portions 15 for supporting them during grinding in the above-noted manner by an arrangement of the sprocket means 20 to engage the chain mounting for the flat series 10 so as to be driven from the travel of the flat series. FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate this arrangement of the sprocket means 20 in further detail as comprising an assembly of driven and driving components 38 and 39 secured by assembly screws 39' to form a compound sprocket unit mounted for rotation on an axial stud 49 carried by the horn bracket 18 in place of the previously mentioned inboard anvil member that has heretofore been conventionally used. The axial stud 4t) has a clamping flange 41 formed intermediate its length so that it may be disposed on the horn bracket 18 in a bored recess, as at 42, and scCure-d in place by the application of a nut 43 to a threaded shank 44, while the compound sprocket means 20 is positioned to ride beyond the clamping flange 41 by a retaining stud 45 and washer 46.

As thus positioned, the sprocket means 20 is carried in aligned relation between spaced wing portions 47 of the T stands 19 on which the horn brackets 18 are mounted. These T stand wing portions 47 are conventionally provided for directing or training the flat end portions 15' to and from the grinding apparatus, and the flats 15 would normally ride over the conventional inboard anvil members between them. The sprocket means 20 of the present invention, however, disposes the lugs 37 in regularly spaced relation about its driven component 38 to receive the flat end portions 15' between the T" stand wing portions 47 and carry them in the previously described manner during grinding. The lugs 37 are kept in phase with the end portions 15' and caused to move therewith by forming the driving sprocket component 39 with correspondingly spaced radial slot-s 48 opening outwardly to receive the cylindrical heads of the mounting screws by which the flats 15 are mounted at 16 as previously noted; registering clearance apertures 49 preferably also being formed in the driven component 38. By proportioning the circular spacing of the radial slots 48 in relation to the linear spacing of the mounting screws 15, a continuing engagement of the chain mounting successively by the slots 48 is obtained to drive the sprocket means 20 so that the lugs 37 are timed regularly with the flats 15 for providing the advantageous grinding support that the present invention makes possible.

This invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only, and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. The method of grinding the clothing of chain mounted card flats during mill operation which comprises applying grinding means to the flat clothing while riding said grinding means on the card flats successively at end portions of the card flats that position the card flats during carding action, and while causing support means to move with each card flat during grinding to support each card flat continuously in essentially line contact relation directly beneath the riding position of said grinding means on said card flat end portions.

2. The method of grinding the clothing of chain mounted card flats during mill operation which comprises applying grinding means to the flat clothing at a position along the return reach of the chain mounted flats, while determining the grinding incidence by riding said grinding means on the card flats successively at end portions of the card flats that position the card flats durin g carding action in a manner adapted for disposing said flats to assume a corresponding position during grinding, and while causing support means to move with each card flat during grinding to support each card flat continuously in said corresponding position directly beneath the riding position of said grinding means on said card flat end portions.

3. A card flat grinding apparatus of the type employed on a carding machine during operation thereof for grinding card flats that are carried on a chain mounting, said apparatus comprising grinding means positioned along the return reach of the chain mounted flats, means for riding the grinding means on said flats at end portions of the flats that position the flats during carding action in a manner for disposing said flats to assume a corresponding position during grinding, and sprocket means disposed to carry each flat during grinding directly beneath the riding position of said grinding means on said card flat end portions, said sprocket means engaging said chain mounting so as to move therewith in a supporting manner requiring the supported card flat to assume said corresponding position.

4. A card flat grinding apparatus according to claim 3 and characterized further in that said sprocket means is formed with peripheral lugs for carrying said flats, the lugs being circularly spaced in relation to the linear spacing of the chain mounted flats and being shaped for maintaining essentially a line contact relation continuously with said card flat end portions directly beneath the riding position of said grinding means during grinding.

5. A card flat grinding apparatus according to claim 3 and characterized further in that said chain mounting for said flats incorporates mounting screws for each flat, said screws having cylindrical heads projecting adjacent said card flat end portions, and said sprocket means is formed with outwardly opening radial slots spaced circularly for successively engaging said mounting screw heads and causing said sprocket means to move with said flats.

6. A card flat grinding apparatus of the type employed on a carding machine during operation thereof for grindin card flats that are carried on a chain mounting, said apparatus comprising a grinding roll, a cradle structure having a compound slide assembly at each end that includes a base component bearing a downwardly directed face cam disposed for riding on end portions of the card flats that position the card flats during carding action, and an adjustable component carried by said base component for supporting said grinding roll at a selected position in relation to said face cam, a pair of horn brackets mounted on T stands at each side of said carding machine for supporting and guiding said compound slide assemblies by means of said horn brackets, said T stands having wing portions aligned ahead of and beyond the face cams beneath the card flat end portions for directing the card flat end portions to and from the face earns, a compound sprocket means carried by each horn bracket for rotation in aligned relation between the spaced wing portions of the T stand on which it is mounted, said sprocket means having a driving component formed with radial slots opening at its periphery with a regular circular spacing related to the linear spacing of said flats on said chain mounting, and a driven component fixed to said driving component and formed with radial lugs at its periphery, the position at which said sprocket means is carried for rotation on said horn bracket being such as to dispose said driving component for following engagement through said radial slots with said chain mounting as said flats are directed to said face cams, and said driven component being proportioned relatively to present a radial lug thereof beneath each card flat for hearing the weight of said card flat and grinding roll continuously while said card flat is ridden by said face cam.

7. A card flat grinding apparatus according to claim 6 and characterized further in that the adjustable components of said compound slide assemblies are selectively positioned on the base components thereof by means of adjusting screw elements respectively engaging the components in each assembly for controlling their relative disposition, and in that the adjusting screw of each assembly is connected for roation from a common adjustment setting shaft so that the adjustment of said assemblies is made synchronous.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 536,375 3/1895 Dobson 51-243 620,353 2/ 1899 Penney 51243 1,163,273 8/1915 Simonds 51253 FOREIGN PATENTS 246 11/ 1892 Great Britain.

ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner.

I. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, LESTER M. SWINGLE,

Examiners. 

3. A CARD FLAT GRINDING APPARATUS OF THE TYPE EMPLOYED ON A CARDING MACHINE DURING OPERATION THEREOF FOR GRINDING CARD FLATS THAT ARE CARRIED ON A CHAIN MOUNTING, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING GRINDING MEANS POSITIONED ALONG THE RETURN REACH OF THE CHAIN MOUNTED FLATS, MEANS FOR RIDING THE GRINDING MEANS ON SAID FLATS AT END PORTIONS OF THE FLATS THAT POSITION THE FLATS DURING CARDING ACTION IN A MANNER FOR DISPOSING SAID FLATS TO ASSUME A CORRESPONDING POSITION DURING GRINDING, AND SPROCKET MEANS DISPOSED TO CARRY EACH FLAT DURING GRINDING DIRECTLY BENEATH THE RIDING POSITION OF SAID GRINDING MEANS ON SAID CARD FLAT END PORTIONS, SAID SPROCKET MEANS ENGAGING SAID CHAIN MOUNTING SO AS TO MOVE THEREWITH IN A SUPPORTING MANNER REQUIRING THE SUPPORTED CARD FLAT TO ASSUME SAID CORRESPONDING POSITION. 